Tamiya 1/24 Fairlady Z Version NISMO

The Tamiya's Fairlady Z Version NISMO is a simply kit, with no turning wheels, curbside (no engine) and no suspension details. However, the molding was excellent, sharp and crisp. Fitting was perfect and well designed especially the front and rear lamps which required no glue. Some fine gaps were encountered in the rear window, so I addressed this by adding a strip of plastic styrene beneath and painted it black to conceal the gap. I built this kit stock with addition of Crazy Modeler's Photo-Etch set and some black flocking powder to replicate the carpet. The body was painted with 2 mist coats and 2 wet coats of red, masked and sprayed with a coat of gun metal as a base. After the paint cured I lightly wet sanded the body with 2000 grit sand paper and clear gloss coated it. The red is a mix of Gunze's Super Italian Red and Shine Red at 1:1 ratio while the gun metal was a mixture of black and gun chrome. After the paint was completed cured, I began wet sanding with 2000 grit sand paper to remove dust, orange peel and to flatten any uneven surface. Then I began polishing to remove all the scratches due to the wet sanding with Tamiya's Coarse Compound follow by Fine Compound and lastly Tamiya's Finish Compound for a mirror finish. Window trims were masked and sprayed with Gunze's semigloss black while enamel dark maroon was used for the panel line wash.

The interior was painted with red, silver, a mixture of semigloss black and dark grey. Then I lightly sprayed flat clear to the interior. Pedals, gear knob, speedometer dial and speakers were replaced with photo-etched parts. Wheels were first painted Gunze's Plate Silver, then lightly coat with clear smoke. Photo-etched Nissan emblem was then added to the wheel instead of stock decal for more realism. Photo-etched disk brake was used instead of paint, to add a sense of realism and they were attached to a rotary tool and lightly scratched with 600 grit sandpaper to simulate wear.

After the final assembly, I carefully waxed over the whole body with Tamiya's Wax for a lustrous shine.

In my opinion, although the kit lack of details, it still look good even built out of the box and some extra detailing will definitely make it look amazing. Highly recommended for beginners because of the very simple and easy construction.

Words and ext by Entau

Compiled by CK Loo

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